The night was weird.
It was Kurtis, Greg, and myself. Greg I’ve written about before. He runs a magic show in Claremont with a toned-down style and original material. Kurtis was trying desperately to become a sleight of hand artist. And I? I liked hanging out.
We were at some joint in the Upland area. Nothing you’d go out of your way for in normal circumstances. We were doing the typical thing. Talking, passing a deck around doing tricks. A blonde lady walked past with her friend. A guy. They seemed fun. She asked what the cards were all about and someone said we were magicians. I don’t remember who said it, but it wasn’t me, I try not to use the word.
She said she knew a trick too. She did the trick everyone does. The 21 Card Trick. It’s charming, but lord is it a lot for someone in the know to have to sit through… again. But she had a good vibe which made it bearable, as did her friend.
I don’t remember his name. But her name was Becky. She said it would be easy to remember because “Becky with the good hair.” To this day I have no idea what that was in reference to. But it worked anyways, I still know her name.
The night was weird. They explained their situation. They came to this brewery to meet with a friend of theirs. But the friend no-showed. They thought it would be a funny idea if we all went over to their friends house and crashed in. They made some proposition. All three of us accepted. No reason other than it seemed funny at the time. To bust into someone’s house like a raid and demand a card to be selected. It was a once in a lifetime proposition.
The night was weird.
We got there, to the house. The guy inside was about a 400 pound Armenian guy. Nice as can be. We had created some backstory and he bought it. He had some of the best Tequila I ever tasted. It had a citrus to it that really brought it to life. I have no idea what it was.
After a while of bullshitting this guy, his wife came home. She was small, very small. Also very nice. Also bought our story. She played the piano. I love the piano. The scene was unexpected and very inviting. We just hung out for the longest time. I think I played a guitar at one point. As it got later the people we went there with got so drunk they just fell asleep. The rest of us still had a drive, so we didn’t drink that much Tequila.
When we left I remember thinking that I had no idea what had actually just happened. The night was weird, for sure, but sometimes you just go with it. People can be surprising. People can be strange. People can be funny. People can be a lot of things, but you’ve got to give them a chance.
What was the point of that night? I’m not sure there was one. But what’s the point of anything? The night was weird. It was surprising. It was strange. It was funny. It was a lot of things. It was a chance to entertain and connect with other people. Random people. And isn’t there a point to that? Does there need to be one?
One does not ask why a fire burns or a plague spreads.
Man wants to love and be loved. Get in there!